UPDATE: I have created a new post with directions that currently work. You can find the new version here.

UPDATE 2: Version 3 directions have been posted. You can find the new directions here.

I built a Windows Home Server a few weeks ago. It has been great and I would recommend it to anyone. While I do have Windows computers, I also have some Mac computers. I have a Mac Mini, MacBook and a MacBook Pro. I wanted all my Macs to backup to the Windows Home Server just like my Windows computers do. But the Connector software is only for Windows and probably always will be. There is a way around it and it works very well.

Things you will need:1. Windows Home Server2. iTimeMachine – on your Mac

Let’s get started:1. Login to your Windows Home Server. You will need to create a new shared folder. I called mine JJ’s Mac Backup, you can call yours whatever you want. You will need to tell Windows Home Server what account to use.

2. Install iTimeMachine on your Mac computer. This program lets Time Machine access networked drives. Once installed run the program and click use network drives.

3. In order for Time Machine to see your network folder you need to login to the shared folder. Now my Windows Home Server shows up under “Shared” when I click on the hard drive. You might need to click “Go” -> “Connect to Server” if your Home Server isn’t list in “Shared”. You will need to login to the folder you created.

4. Now that you are logged into the Windows Home Server folder go to Time Machine and choose your drive. That folder should show up as a disk.

That’s all there is to getting your Mac to backup to your Windows Home Server.

To make things easier on the laptops I created a shortcut to the shared folder on the desktop. I just have to double click on that to login then click on the new time machine icon by the clock and tell it to backup. On the Mac Mini I saved the password to the shared folder and let it automatically backup whenever it wants.

Comments

Are you sure you were able to get your macs to backup to the NTFS file system on your windows home server? Have not been able to get my macs to backup to an ntfs file system. Everytime, there is an error creating the file.

It is probably because I have ntfsprogs on my Macs for when I was testing imaging for Windows. I got the installer from Bombich.com but I don’t see it there anymore. I would just do a search for ntfsprogs for Mac. Let me know if that works. Also with the recent updated bug list for Windows Home Server I have stopped using this setup. It’s not that I was worried about the backup. I was more worried about it affecting my other files.

[…] wanted to backup it’s entire contents to the server. Through the straight-forward tutorial of multimedia-pcs.com, I was able to set up a back-up disk for Time Machine in minutes using iTimeMachine. Still awaiting […]

I’m glad you pointed that out. The website is gone. Since it was a free program I would use BitTorrent to get the file. The latest version was 1.1. I look around to see if I can find some alternative ways.

The only thing is that the terminal commands that you listed above work, and allow me to see the WHS folders. The issue is that I keep getting an error message that says ‘Time Machine unable to create backup image’. This is the first time I am running Time Machine and have never gotten it working.

[…] to Windows Home Server and Mac OS X that has complicated the process just a bit and therefor my previous directions no longer work. Below I will highlight a still fairly easy process to get your Mac Time Machine […]

[…] on a WHS (although many have, refer to Guide: Backing Up Your Mac to WHS 2011 With Time Machine or How-To: Use Time Machine with a Windows Home Server for example). I haven't ever set one up, although when I ran the WHS (the first version) with my […]